CFB Week 7 Takeaways: Oregon Takes Command of Big Ten Before SEC Steals the Spotlight
Before the 2024 campaign began, the college football world circled this exact weekend as a potential season-shaping Saturday.
The greatest part? It lived up to the hype.
Most notably, third-ranked Oregon knocked off No. 2 Ohio State in a massive Big Ten matchup. Tennessee and LSU won overtime games, while Alabama, Georgia and Texas each did their part to lock in the SEC's inarguable place in the spotlight next weekend.
Elsewhere around the nation, the ACC and Big 12 had a few notable results that merit a closer look.
The takeaways start, however, with a College Football Playoff update through a Group of Five lens.
G5 Race Thinned to 4 Conferences
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Army and Navy are undefeated, and Liberty is too! Memphis and Tulane are solid, and the Sun Belt has several one-loss teams! Boise State is quite good and boasts the actual Heisman Trophy favorite!
If you're keeping track, the American, Conference USA, Mountain West and Sun Belt are each mentioned in some capacity there.
And not the MAC.
Unfortunately for the Midwest league, this was probably the weekend it exited the College Football Playoff race. Heading into Saturday's action, only two MAC programs—Eastern Michigan and Toledo—hadn't lost multiple games this season. Both joined the club in Week 7.
Sure, it's possible Team Chaos destroys the other Group of Five conferences and gives the MAC an unexpected lifeline. The likelihood of that happening, as you can imagine, is low.
This won't diminish my excitement for #MACtion in November, but the league won't be representing the G5 in the CFP.
Louisville Sets Up Spotlight Game with Miami
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After reaching the ACC Championship Game last season, Louisville is solidly in the mix once again. Saturday's 24-20 win at Virginia bumped the Cardinals to 2-1 in the league and 4-2 overall.
But a make-or-break moment is coming.
In the early window on Saturday, Louisville will be hosting Miami. While the 'Canes are unbeaten, they've showed some vulnerability in recent wins against Virginia Tech and Cal.
Louisville, which fell to SMU in Week 6, needs to avoid a second conference loss to legitimately keep its ACC dreams alive. Otherwise, the Cardinals will need to upset Clemson in November and get a bunch of help from SMU's and Miami's future opponents.
Win it, though, and the ACC race suddenly will be very messy.
Big 12 Unbeatens Pass Another Test
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Entering the season, four Big 12 teams—Utah, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Arizona—attracted the most buzz. All of them, along with Kansas, held a spot in the preseason AP Top 25.
The standings are much different at the halfway mark.
Iowa State withstood a pesky West Virginia team, leaning on its defense in a 28-16 road victory. The group held Garrett Greene to just 6.4 yards per pass attempt and grabbed two interceptions, both of which led to important late touchdowns for ISU. Running back Carson Hansen scampered for 96 yards and three scores, as well.
BYU assembled a more comfortable win at home against Arizona behind a 27-3 spurt in the middle quarters. The defense collected four takeaways in a 41-19 triumph.
As a result, both Iowa State and BYU are 6-0—and there isn't a clash between the teams on the regular-season slate.
It's safe to suggest the Big 12 won't be upset if Iowa State and BYU are on a collision course for a 12-0 battle in the league title game.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Alabama, Tennessee Win, but Concerns Mounting
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During that exciting Week 6 slate, Alabama and Tennessee weren't so captivated by those upsets. Alabama lost at Vanderbilt, and Tennessee fell on the road against Arkansas.
The good news? Both teams bounced back with a win.
The bad news? Neither one looked good doing it.
Alabama needed a defensive stand on a two-point conversion to keep South Carolina from tying the game. Then, the Crimson Tide failed to recover an onside kick and had to prevent the Gamecocks from getting into field-goal range for a potential last-minute winner. Bama found its stop on a final-play interception, but it was a nervy 27-25 win.
Later on, Tennessee didn't score in the opening half at home against a Florida defense that isn't exactly sensational. Plus, the Vols benefited from UF coach Billy Napier electing not to attempt a two-point conversion in the closing seconds of regulation—something any road underdog should do. Tennessee ultimately won 23-17 in overtime.
Both the Tide and Vols improved to 2-1 in the SEC and 5-1 overall, and the Third Saturday of October is—checks calendar—next week.
The loser of this rivalry never leaves with a good feeling, but the 2024 edition is destined to leave one program in a particularly sour mood.
LSU Bumps Ole Miss to the CFP Bubble
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Whenever the topic of expansion came up, I had a simple response: I don't have a problem with it, but we need to not pretend that we won't argue about the 12th and 13th teams like we do the 68th and 69th teams on the fringes of March Madness. It's an annual tradition!
Ole Miss is trending toward the football version of the bubble.
Sitting at 5-2, the Rebels are currently on the wrong side of the conversation. None of their five victories are particularly impressive—the best one is against South Carolina—but the losses are to Georgia and LSU.
Looking ahead, Ole Miss is idle in Week 8 before hosting Oklahoma. To close the season, the Rebels play at Arkansas, host Georgia, visit Florida and return home to face Mississippi State.
If that stretch produces a 4-1 record with the loss happening to UGA, Ole Miss should be an ideal case study. How will the College Football Playoff selection committee view the resume? In theory, the 9-3 Rebels' top victory would be over...an unimpressive Oklahoma team?
The hypothetical game is about to become very popular, and Ole Miss is a prime bubble candidate to track.
Oregon Becomes the Big Ten Favorite
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UCLA has struggled in its transition to the Big Ten. Washington and USC—which both fell on Saturday—have endured a couple of grinding losses as they adapt to the physical style of their new league home.
But there is plenty of celebrating at Oregon after the Ducks clipped second-ranked Ohio State 33-32.
Among the Pac-12 departures, UO entered the conference with the highest expectations in 2024. Dan Lanning returned an experienced defense and brought in veteran quarterback Dillon Gabriel to lead the offense. Although the Ducks hadn't yet executed at the level anticipated, they've still been viewed as one of the nation's best teams.
Thanks to a thrilling win over Ohio State, they're now officially the favorite in the Big Ten, too.
We could talk about OSU quarterback Will Howard's head-shaking run as time expired, expand on Ryan Day's warming seat in Columbus after yet another marquee loss or wonder about a potential rematch (yes, please!) in the conference championship game.
As the proverbial dust settles on that contest, though, the main takeaway is that Oregon has rudely introduced itself to the Big Ten.
Georgia, Texas Ready for Showdown
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If possible, I imagine you cleared the calendar to watch Ohio State and Oregon in a clash of top-three teams on Saturday night—with Ole Miss and LSU on another screen, perhaps.
You'll want to do that again in Week 7.
Georgia, which just dispatched Mississippi State 41-31, is headed to Texas for a second top-five showdown this season. On the last weekend of September, UGA fell to Alabama in that dramatic 41-34 game. Georgia will be eyeing a season-shaping win.
Texas, meanwhile, enters on a positive note after rolling rival Oklahoma 34-3 as quarterback Quinn Ewers returned from injury.
Georgia's remaining slate is tough enough to prevent me from saying a victory effectively locks the Dawgs into the SEC Championship Game. Texas, however, is a fair bit closer to that perception, even as each of the Horns' last five opponents are conference foes.
Either way, whichever team wins Saturday night in Austin will be a near-lock to reach the College Football Playoff.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
